Any actual lawyers want to weigh in on this? My "knowledge" on the topic is pretty much just what I've pieced together from these threads... I thought the patent owner had to actually make use of the patent to be able to defend it. Is that not the case? Aren't there any protections in place to prevent abuse of the system like this?

I'm just saddened by all the companies that give into this guy. If I were some successful industrialist, I'd sate my evil urges by keeping some attack dog lawyers around for when then the patent trolls showed up. Plus a little fund of "fark you" money to do things like buy up all the property around the troll's house, bribe the local government to get a fracking permit and leave the troll with tap water that is octane enough to run his lawn mower on.

Honest Bender:Any actual lawyers want to weigh in on this? My "knowledge" on the topic is pretty much just what I've pieced together from these threads... I thought the patent owner had to actually make use of the patent to be able to defend it. Is that not the case? Aren't there any protections in place to prevent abuse of the system like this?

No, if you have a patent you can stop anyone else using it even if you don't.

The real problem here is the USPO granting patents that should not have been granted, where others already have patents and where prior art exists. So you could have a genuine patent, granted in 2000, but be sued by someone who patented the same tech in 2005.

The USG needs to start cancelling patents, in effect make everyone suing for patent infringement prove from scratch that their patent should be valid before they move on to look at whether it is being infringed.

ha-ha-guy:I'm just saddened by all the companies that give into this guy. If I were some successful industrialist, I'd sate my evil urges by keeping some attack dog lawyers around for when then the patent trolls showed up. Plus a little fund of "fark you" money to do things like buy up all the property around the troll's house, bribe the local government to get a fracking permit and leave the troll with tap water that is octane enough to run his lawn mower on.

This. Just as with any frivolous lawsuit spending $1million to fight and win a case that you could have settled for $100k will save you money in the long term, because if you do settle for $100k then next week there will be another case, and then another and another...Spend the $1million to fight it and the scumbag lawyers who launch these claims will very quickly learn it's not worth targeting you. They're no different from crack addicts looking for a house to break into. Which one to pick? The ones with open windows or the one with an alarm system and guard dogs?

Flint Ironstag:ha-ha-guy: I'm just saddened by all the companies that give into this guy. If I were some successful industrialist, I'd sate my evil urges by keeping some attack dog lawyers around for when then the patent trolls showed up. Plus a little fund of "fark you" money to do things like buy up all the property around the troll's house, bribe the local government to get a fracking permit and leave the troll with tap water that is octane enough to run his lawn mower on.

This. Just as with any frivolous lawsuit spending $1million to fight and win a case that you could have settled for $100k will save you money in the long term, because if you do settle for $100k then next week there will be another case, and then another and another...Spend the $1million to fight it and the scumbag lawyers who launch these claims will very quickly learn it's not worth targeting you. They're no different from crack addicts looking for a house to break into. Which one to pick? The ones with open windows or the one with an alarm system and guard dogs?

Just to add that the situation is perpetuated by the insurance companies who insure you against lawsuits. They don't want these frivolous cases to go away, because they won't be able to charge huge premiums to companies. They need all these settlements to frighten companies into taking out their insurance!

Makes me think about how much being rich is worth. Is having 20mil in the bank worth having a life dedicated to nothing but misery and lies? To have thousands of people hate your guts and wish you a horrible, ass-cancer filled death? And when you do die to have people literally dance on your grave and take shiats on the headstone, and have parents bring their children by and say, "See that guy Timmy? He was an evil man and the world is a better place without him." ?

BigLuca:Makes me think about how much being rich is worth. Is having 20mil in the bank worth having a life dedicated to nothing but misery and lies? To have thousands of people hate your guts and wish you a horrible, ass-cancer filled death? And when you do die to have people literally dance on your grave and take shiats on the headstone, and have parents bring their children by and say, "See that guy Timmy? He was an evil man and the world is a better place without him." ?

I guess it is worth it to some people. Not to me though.

Thing is, it's probably pretty easy for him to hide from the people who hate his guts. May well be that most of his family and friends don't realize what he does spends all his lawyering time on. Then again, people who are asshats in business dealings have a tendency to be just as contemptible in real life.

Flint Ironstag:ha-ha-guy: I'm just saddened by all the companies that give into this guy. If I were some successful industrialist, I'd sate my evil urges by keeping some attack dog lawyers around for when then the patent trolls showed up. Plus a little fund of "fark you" money to do things like buy up all the property around the troll's house, bribe the local government to get a fracking permit and leave the troll with tap water that is octane enough to run his lawn mower on.

This. Just as with any frivolous lawsuit spending $1million to fight and win a case that you could have settled for $100k will save you money in the long term, because if you do settle for $100k then next week there will be another case, and then another and another...Spend the $1million to fight it and the scumbag lawyers who launch these claims will very quickly learn it's not worth targeting you. They're no different from crack addicts looking for a house to break into. Which one to pick? The ones with open windows or the one with an alarm system and guard dogs?

This sounds like a prisoners dilemma. One successful defense against a patent can potentially prevent the same lawsuit from being brought up against other companies. So all these tech companies working together to fight these patent trolls can likely cost each company less than settling all the patent suits. But if you fight and nobody else does, that's a huge cost. So they just settle for the no risk cost.

larkmaj:Flint Ironstag: ha-ha-guy: I'm just saddened by all the companies that give into this guy. If I were some successful industrialist, I'd sate my evil urges by keeping some attack dog lawyers around for when then the patent trolls showed up. Plus a little fund of "fark you" money to do things like buy up all the property around the troll's house, bribe the local government to get a fracking permit and leave the troll with tap water that is octane enough to run his lawn mower on.

This. Just as with any frivolous lawsuit spending $1million to fight and win a case that you could have settled for $100k will save you money in the long term, because if you do settle for $100k then next week there will be another case, and then another and another...Spend the $1million to fight it and the scumbag lawyers who launch these claims will very quickly learn it's not worth targeting you. They're no different from crack addicts looking for a house to break into. Which one to pick? The ones with open windows or the one with an alarm system and guard dogs?

This sounds like a prisoners dilemma. One successful defense against a patent can potentially prevent the same lawsuit from being brought up against other companies. So all these tech companies working together to fight these patent trolls can likely cost each company less than settling all the patent suits. But if you fight and nobody else does, that's a huge cost. So they just settle for the no risk cost.

A lot of tech companies profit from patent trolling, too. They probably don't want to create a lot of legal precedents that suggest they can't sue other companies for patents.

B-b-but I've been assured by patent lawyers on Fark that patent trolls don't actually exist, and the term is just something cooked up by mean penny-pinching companies trying to slander the heroic innovators whose work they are stealing!

If you can't trust the lawyers who profit off of a broken system, who can you trust?

Gunther:B-b-but I've been assured by patent lawyers on Fark that patent trolls don't actually exist, and the term is just something cooked up by mean penny-pinching companies trying to slander the heroic innovators whose work they are stealing!

If you can't trust the lawyers who profit off of a broken system, who can you trust?